November, 2009

Greetings,

Within the new district Strategic Plan, one of our top priorities is to increase the family and community engagement or participation that leads to student success. Focusing on that priority, I hosted six community forums last month. The forums provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to review the Strategic Plan while it is still in its draft stages and provide their valuable feedback. Every forum was videotaped is still being shown on Channel 76 cable TV.

When it comes to education, I have always believed that our parents are a critical source of information and insight. They know how well our schools are doing and what issues need to be addressed. During the Community Forums, we enjoyed numerous productive discussions centered around the strategic plan, with our goal of preparing every student for success in the institution of higher education of their choosing and in their chosen career. All suggestions were recorded and will be taken into consideration as we develop a final draft of the strategic plan.

Without parent and community participation at forums such as these, we are truly operating in a vacuum. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone in our district community who contributed to this great experience. It was wonderful to see so many parents come out in the evening to support this ambitious and important planning effort. I look forward to continuing the conversation as we move forward and become a statewide leader in urban education, through the implementation of this important Strategic Plan.

We are now in the process of reviewing all the feedback received at the forums and weighing modifications to the plan, based on what was said. A final Strategic Plan will be presented to the community after the holidays, along with a communications plan and timeline that shows how we intend to communicate and proceed.